NHS Cord Blood Bank

Cord blood is used as an alternative to bone marrow for patients needing a stem cell transplant e.g. for leukaemia or for inherited conditions of bone marrow failure. More than 6000 cord transplants have taken place world-wide so far and its use is increasing rapidly because of several advances in recent years, particularly its use in adults, where double cord transplants have proved very successful.

It is now clear that cord banking has a very important role to play in the quest to find a suitable match for all patients who need a stem cell transplant, as often a matched cord can be found where a matched bone marrow or stem cell donor can't. It is crucial now to increase the number of cord blood units banked, to improve the chances of finding a match for patients. We are therefore aiming to bank 20,000 cords from donors of diverse ethnic backgrounds. As the "dose" of cells determines the chances of a successful outcome for the patient's transplant, it is important that we collect all the cord blood that we can from each individual cord donated.

I am very fortunate to work with an excellent team of people in the NHS Cord Blood Bank. They are totally committed to improving the lives of patients by increasing the chances of finding a match for a transplant and providing very high quality cord blood units for use both in the UK and world-wide.

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